As his pictures show, Phoenix is a healthy, happy, playful little kitten, but it was not always so.

'Phoenix' is so named because he, literally, has risen from the ashes. Found trailside in a Peninsula wilderness park by a hiker, the kitten approached her from behind a tree, mewing and purring, obviously friendly and used to people. He was emaciated, dehydrated, bedraggled, filthy, covered with fleas and ticks, and about to become dinner for a hawk, licking its chops, waiting to swoop down from the top of the tree and grab the kitten.

A couple, completing their hike, happened by on the way to their car, and stopped to talk with Phoenix's rescuer about the kitten. Remarkably, this couple previously had adopted two cats from us, and gave the rescuer our phone number. The rescuer took Phoenix home with her to the south Peninsula, called us, then delivered him to one of our intake locations late that night.

After vet exams, Rx meds and a measured feeding and rehydration regime, Phoenix has made remarkable progress during his first weeks in foster care, slowly recovering from his ordeal in the wild. He has never flinched from being handled, nor stopped purring, and loves his interactions with his fosterer and other visitors. He is happy, playful, curious and, now, well fed. His appearance and demeanor belie his close brush with the Grim Reaper.

We cannot imagine how such a tiny, malnourished kitten managed to survive the dangers and wild creatures that roam that park day and night, and from the look of him he had been lost or abandoned there for a few weeks. But Phoenix has a big heart and a spirit that never lets down, and he somehow managed to stay alive, and walk out onto the trail to show himself at just the right time, to just the right person, to get help. It all fell into place, and this truly was a cat rescue in the true sense of the term, and one for the books.

The Fine Print — While Community Cat Rescue would love to make our adoptable cats and kittens available to everyone, everywhere, we must limit our adoption service area to San Francisco Peninsula cities and towns. We simply do not have the volunteer-power or financial resources to make home visits (required for all adoptions), delivery of adopted cats/kittens and follow-up visits outside the Peninsula. An occasional, rare exception might be made, but it is not the rule.

BLACK KITTEN ADOPTION SPECIAL!

Did you know black kittens have the hardest time finding homes, despite their wonderful personalities? So give them a look, because adoption fees for solid black kittens are only $25, and black and white kittens are only $50. All kittens are spayed/neutered, microchipped with lifetime registration, tested for FIV/FeLV, and vaccinated too.